How conservation work on Tristan da Cunha is helping break down barriers

In this feature for International Women’s Day 2025, the RSPB’s Em Witcutt talks to Janine Lavarello, Marine Protection Zone Officer for Tristan da Cunha, a volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean.

It’s 2022, and Janine Lavarello is the manager of one of the world’s most remote crèches. She spends her days caring for the youngsters of Tristan da Cunha. But Janine’s career is about to take off in a whole new direction: helping to protect the pristine ocean around her island home and the wildlife that depends on it. Janine is about to become Tristan’s Marine Protection Zone Officer, through the Atlantic Guardians project led by the RSPB in partnership with the Tristan Government.

Fast forward a year, and, hearing her name announced to the delegates gathered before her, Janine takes a deep breath, stands up, and begins to speak. She has travelled to Vancouver in Canada, to the Fifth International Marine Protected Areas Congress, to talk about the role she plays in managing the largest Marine Protected Area in the Atlantic. It’s not the first time she’s left her island, but it’s certainly the most daunting audience she’s ever spoken to, an intimidating prospect for anyone, let alone for Janine, born and raised as part of Tristan’s community of around 250 people.

Find the South Atlantic Ocean on a world map, and put your finger in the middle, halfway between South Africa and Argentina. There lies Tristan da Cunha. It’s one of the UK Overseas Territories, a volcanic island, the tip of an enormous seamount that rises straight out of the sea. Neighbouring it are the uninhabited islands of Nightingale and Inaccessible, and about 250 miles south-east lies Gough Island, one of the most important seabird colonies on the planet.

Between them, these islands are home to the entire breeding population of Tristan Albatross and Great Shearwater, as well as thousands upon thousands of penguins, petrels and prions. The waters around them are just as rich, with Blue Sharks, Fur Seals and whale species aplenty. The Tristanians rely on the marine ecosystem for their diet, and roughly 80% of the island’s economy comes from its thriving Rock Lobster fishery.

Recognising their precious marine heritage, in 2020 the people of Tristan came together to create their Marine Protection Zone, protecting an area almost three times the size of the UK as a no-take zone. Fishing would now only be permitted in small inshore pockets, and then only by sustainable practices. Just as the Tristanians rely on their ocean, the ocean could now rely on them in turn.

The Atlantic Guardians project began in 2021 with the aim of building a strong and sustainable foundation for this vast new marine protected area. Funded by the Blue Nature Alliance, the initiative focuses on scientific research, capacity building, community engagement, and global outreach. The team has achieved remarkable milestones, including:

• Conducting cutting-edge research on the marine life surrounding Tristan;
• Strengthening local management capacity and mentoring the next generation of conservation leaders on the island;
• Celebrating and preserving marine heritage by recording oral histories and restoring a traditional longboat;
• Showcasing Tristan on the global stage through international conferences and knowledge exchange trips to learn essential management techniques.

Janine, now Marine Protection Zone Officer employed through the Atlantic Guardians project, spoke of this work at the conference in Vancouver. By sharing her experiences of the creation of the Marine Protection Zone and the Tristan community’s visionary commitment to conservation, she hoped to inspire others.

Next, Janine travelled to the UK, to spend four months completing a broad array of training to support her role and to share with conservation teams once back on Tristan. She shadowed Marine Management Organisation Enforcement Officers, learned to track seabirds with a specialist team from the RSPB’s Centre for Conservation Science, gained essential first aid skills, and completed Durrell Academy courses in communication and project management.

She attended Prime Minister’s Questions in Westminster and even spent a sunny afternoon in the gardens of Buckingham Palace for an event celebrating the UK Overseas Territories, hosted by King Charles.

When she returned to Tristan, everything Janine had learned came with her. Her new skills, together with her continued passion, would help her work alongside her community to protect the islands and surrounding waters.

Among Janine’s newfound skills is the training she received in driving powerboats and sea survival techniques. She is the first woman on Tristan to have held such qualifications, a remarkable achievement.

The ground that Janine has broken is now an easier path for others to tread. Working in conservation is a sought-after career for Tristan’s school-leavers, and Janine has been a source of inspiration and mentoring. Alongside the island's Conservation and Fisheries Departments, she has supported four young Tristanians to become Young Ocean Champions through the Atlantic Guardians project, empowering them to become the island’s next generation of marine conservation leaders. Last year, the four school-leavers came to the UK to complete their own range of training, chaperoned and supported by Trevor Glass, Head of Tristan’s Conservation Department. Alongside the powerboat and sea survival courses that Janine took before them, they became certified PADI Rescue Divers and learned how to maintain a diesel engine.

Among them was sixteen-year-old Shannon Swain, who left Tristan for the very first time. Shannon explains: “It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I’d never been off the island, and this was the perfect time for me to experience what was outside of Tristan. I wanted to complete all the training provided and bring all the skills I learnt back to the island for my community and the future generations.” 

The Women’s Champions is another Atlantic Guardians initiative through which islanders have become protectors of their Marine Protection Zone, supporting Janine in her work. The Champions have collected oral histories from the island's elders, safeguarding stories of island life for future generations.

They have also supported community events such as the launching of the longboat. This involved the skilful restoration of a traditional fishing boat by community elders. With Janine, the elders accompanied the longboat on its maiden voyage, sailing alongside. Among them was Janine’s grandfather, now in his eighties. “That was really special for me because it's a memory that I shared with him. He used to go in the longboats, and he always told me stories about it,” recalls Janine.

The elders have also built a bullock cart, traditionally used to bring kelp up from the beaches to fertilise crops. It is through such initiatives that the islanders have been able to celebrate their rich marine heritage whilst also keeping traditional skills alive.

The breadth of Janine’s role as Marine Protection Zone Officer, and its funding through the Atlantic Guardians project, sets it apart from others on the island, most of which are provided by Tristan’s Government. It has enabled Janine to work with other islanders in a range of roles and levels of responsibility.

One day she might be in the office, attending online meetings with colleagues in the UK, Australia and America, and preparing equipment for upcoming research work, be it shark tagging, or deploying acoustic monitors to record cetaceans underwater. The next, she might be updating the island’s Council on the project’s progress, or at the school, showing Tristan’s children how special their wildlife is. Each aspect of Janine’s role must also fit around the tasks that every islander takes part in, like offloading boats as they arrive at the island, and caring for the more vulnerable members of the community.

In 2024, Tristan’s Marine Protection Zone was awarded a Gold Blue Park Award at the Our Ocean Conference in Greece. It is testament to the hard work of the Tristan community, and the success of the first few years since designation, that their MPZ has been recognised by this prestigious award.

Celebrating the award, Janine reflected: “As we are surrounded by miles upon miles of open water, the community of Tristan da Cunha has always respected and depended upon the ocean – it gives us more than we could ever ask in return. The designation of Tristan’s Marine Protection Zone has fostered real pride in the community, showing what incredible things we can achieve despite our limited resources. It has also inspired the younger generation to be committed to marine conservation, helping to protect the environment and the island they call home.”

Janine, Shannon, and many other islanders are playing an invaluable part in protecting their pristine seas, and the wildlife they share it with. Thanks to these island champions, Tristanians will be able to rely on their oceans for generations to come.